


Provenance: A prelude

by Jane Shepard (Mehmi)



Series: Mass Effect: Provenance [2]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Christmas, Colonist (Mass Effect), Gen, War Hero (Mass Effect)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-12
Updated: 2015-12-28
Packaged: 2018-05-06 19:36:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 9,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5428169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mehmi/pseuds/Jane%20Shepard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a snippet of my work Provenance, which will begin uploading in the next month. Provenance is a journal collection based on Jane Shepard's life before the events of Mass Effect. In this prelude, you will find out just what happens when Christmas shore leave goes horribly wrong.</p><p>These journal entries and other pieces were discovered within the encrypted personal files of the previous Shadowbroker between the events of Mass Effect 2 and 3 by Feron and Liara T'soni. While you won't find those characters in this prelude, you may see them popping up from time to time in the complete work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Two weeks before Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that I do not own a lot of the elements in this story, including Jane Shepard, they belong to Bioware.  
> This work is a part of my Mass Effect Project, where my main goal is to delve into the mind of the character and discover their thoughts and feelings about the situations they are placed in. My secondary goal is to develop my writing skills and technique, so if you find that something needs to be edited, please contact me and inform me of the issue. Thanks for reading!  
> -Mehmi

_Lieutenant Jane Shepard's journal entry, 12/12/2176_

So for the first time in years, Elysium's rotation will bring its days in alignment with Earth's for Christmas Eve. The Alliance has decided to host an event to celebrate, selecting five groups from each division to spend shore leave in Illyria. I wish we were in the running, but because we're halfway through our tour on Shanxi, I doubt it.

Mika contacted me today. She wanted to tell me before I found out through the extranet, but the colony on Mindoir has finally been rebuilt. The recruitment announcement should go out in the next few days for colonists. She thinks I should go for a visit before my next tour but I'm not sure. I left that life behind me years ago.

 

_Email from Executive Officer aboard the SSV Agincourt Mika Lewis to Lieutenant Jane Shepard_

Hey kiddo

I got news from my friend over in Colonial Recruitment, the rebuild of the Mindoir colony is complete. The announcement will go live tomorrow. Just thought I'd let you know in case you wanted to make plans before your next tour to visit. They've done a pretty good job from what I've heard. A lot of the prefabs were upgraded to newer models with better tech. They've set up a permanent memorial wall, too. Anyway, if you want to talk, I'm off duty between 2000-0400.

Mika

 

_Transcript of a holo conversation between Lieutenant Jane Shepard and Executive Officer aboard the SSV Agincourt Mika Lewis, 12/12/2176 Earth standard, 2330._

Mika: Janey! How's Shanxi?

Jane: No real change since we last talked, it's still pretty quiet. My squad mostly just patrols the perimeter these days. What about you?

Mika: A few skirmishes here and there with batarian pirates, but nothing major. Have you thought anymore on what we talked about?

Jane: Visiting Mindoir? Yeah. It's all I ever think about to be honest. But whenever I think I've made up my mind about visiting, something makes me second guess myself. I thought I'd put it all behind me but...

Mika: They were your family and friends Janey. You're allowed to miss them. I'd be more concerned if you didn't miss them.

Jane: Yeah, you're right I guess. Maybe if you came along it'd make the whole thing easier.

Mika: Of course kiddo! You can rely on me to be there for you. When your tour is over, we'll organise some shore leave to Mindoir, okay?

Jane: Yeah, okay. Thanks Mika.

Mika: Anytime Janey. That's what I'm here for.


	2. Ten days before Christmas

_Lieutenant Jane Shepard's journal entry, 12/14/2176_

Gunny Cooper wanted to head into the shopping district today, since it's out squad's RDO. Being the only other woman in our squad of six, I obliged, reluctantly. Alliance regs state that we must wear alliance fatigues when off duty, but when we met up outside the base she laughed at me, "'Cause yeh look too serious". Her own crazy curls had been straightened out into waves and she was wearing makeup, something I never bothered with.

We headed out to the shopping district just after midday planet-time. Cooper mentioned something about buying Christmas presents for the squad. She seems to like celebrating Earth holidays. When the topic came up of something I'd like to receive, she dragged me into a store claiming to sell "Everything a woman needs". Turns out the store sells clothing, shoes, and beauty supplies. I browsed a little through the shirts until Cooper dragged me over to the makeup counter. She sat me down on a stool and started applying stuff to my face, laughing and scolding when I scrunched my face up. She reminded me of Cady, my best friend when I was on Mindoir. Cady used to con me into wearing pretty things too. Before I start feeling sad over Mindoir, Cooper pushed a mirror in front of me. I hardly recognised myself. I mean the bobbed haircut was the same, but my face was different. Pretty. I had pink lips, rosy cheeks, and smoky eyelids which drew out the contrasting grey of my eyes.

"Next yeh need a pair o' heels t' go wit tha' sexy dress in yer closet. Tha's the one yeh ma gave yeh, yeah?"

"Yeah," I replied softly, humbled by Cooper's makeup skills. On base, she only wore the most basic of makeup. When I asked her about it, she said it was because she didn't want the guys judging her skills based on her looks. I understood completely.

I ended up buying a pair of heels lower than what Cooper was trying to convince me to buy, mainly because I was afraid I'd topple over and break my ankle in the ones she had suggested. We did a bit more shopping, before heading back to the base. Fortunately, I was able to get back on base and into the barracks before we ran into anyone I knew. If any of the squad had seen me in makeup and toting heels, well I don't think I'd ever hear the end of it.


	3. Nine days before Christmas

_Lieutenant Jane Shepard's journal entry, 12/15/2176_

I've been thinking about Mindoir a lot lately. It's been five and a half years since the attack, since I lost my family and friends to the raiders. I would've died on that planet, locked away in the farming labs if it weren't for Mika and her squad. They weren't even looking for me, just searching for anything that might help turn the tide of battle with the raiders. My life changed because they stumbled across me. At the time I wanted to know why me, but l eventually learned to stop questioning it and accept that I may never know why I was one of the few who survived on Mindoir. "The universe must have a plan for you," Mika had once said. I still hope she's right.

I've decided after my tour's finished, I'm going to go back to Mindoir, to see the rebuild and the memorial. Mika said she'll come with me.


	4. One week before Christmas

_Lieutenant Jane Shepard's journal entry, 12/17/2176_

My squad's CO pulled some strings and got us on the list for Elysium! I don't know how many favours he cashed in to get us this. He mentioned something about spending the next two tours setting up new colonies, which is the worst kind of posting- at least in my opinion. But I've never been to Elysium before, not even since my foster aunt, Trish moved there. I've just been so busy with training and tours there hasn't been time. I sent Mika an email to see if we can organise a get together, like some sort of traditional Christmas dinner or something.

 

_Email to Executive Officer aboard the SSV Agincourt Mika Lewis from Lieutenant Jane Shepard, 12/17/2176_

Hey Mika, What are you doing for Christmas? Because Lee got my squad on the list for shore leave on Elysium! I could kiss that guy, seriously. Anyway, if you have the holiday off I was thinking we could get together at Trish's and have one of those old school traditional Christmas dinners you used to love.

Just need to know your end of tour date, so we can organise something.

Jane

 

_Email in response to Lieutenant Jane Shepard from Executive Officer aboard the SSV Agincourt Mika Lewis, 12/17/2176_

Congratulations! My tour finishes Christmas Eve, so Trish and I have organised to have dinner at her place Christmas Day. But you should go visit them before then! Jenny would love to meet you, even though she's only three, whenever Trish gets her on the holovid all Jenny wants to hear about is you!

Does this mean your tour dates have changed too? If so, perhaps we can schedule a trip to Mindoir after Christmas. We'd have to stop at Arcturus station for a few days beforehand, however. Find out and get back to me will you?

Mika


	5. Six days before Christmas

_Lieutenant Jane Shepard's journal entry, 12/_ _19/2176_

We're scheduled to leave on the SSV Teresa, tomorrow at 0600 planet time. The trip will take at least ten hours to get to the Vetus system, where Elysium is located. This means we should be touching down in Illyria around mid afternoon. I'm already packed, including some makeup that I went back and bought while I was off-duty today. Cooper said she’ll give me a crash-course in applying it when we land. I get how to apply most of it, but she seems to believe there’s specific techniques for each different product. I guess I’ll just humour her and maybe I’ll learn some new tricks as well.

I can’t wait to set foot on Elysium. Jon Grissom’s supposed to have retired there. Long days, snow covered mountains, it’ll be so much better than the heat and miles of dirt on Shanxi.


	6. Five days before Christmas

_Lieutenant Jane Shepard's journal entry, 12/20/2176_

We arrived in Illyria at 4pm planet-time. Elysium has a 27 hour day so it was the middle of the afternoon when we got there. They weren't joking about the city being the largest Earth colony, I've never seen so many people in one place, not even on Arcturus Station. The human colony is still situated mostly in the northwest sector of the city, surrounded by hills on the outer edges. It really is an alpine paradise.

We're staying in a hotel called Arctic Grande. We aren't the only military staying here; I've seen the other squads from the list arrive, as well a few Navies milling around. The hotel is huge, 30 stories high, with indoor swimming pools, a club, two restaurants, _and_ it's connected to the entertainment sector of the nearby shopping district. We each have our own rooms on the 26th floor. It's strange not sharing with five others. The first thing I did was strip off my fatigues and lay back on the huge bed. There's also a kitchenette, a bathroom with a decent bath and shower, and not to mention the holovid screen with unlimited access hanging on the wall opposite the bed.

I still can't believe the Alliance shelled out for this, I'm half-expecting the expense to be docked from our pays. Not that I'd tell the others this.


	7. Four days before Christmas

_Lieutenant Jane Shepard's journal entry, 12/21/2176_

The first thing Cooper wanted to do today was go shopping. I don't know why this surprised me. She wanted to buy gifts to send back to her family on Earth, which was actually a good idea. So I followed suit, buying Trish and her partner a nice bottle of wine, a small doll for Jenny, and a pair of earrings for Mika. She doesn't normally wear any fancy jewellery, but these were different, inspired by military designs. I thought she'd get a kick out of that.

I also bought myself a snow jacket and gloves to keep warm when we head up into the mountains the day after tomorrow. Harcourt's family lived in a similar environment when he was young; he's offered to teach us how to ski. If there's a frozen lake we may even get to ice skate, though I'm not sure how confident I feel with having just a thin omniblade between myself and a thin sheet of ice.

After that I came back to the hotel and lazed about in my room. There's so much to do in Illyria, but I really just love that I'm not on duty at all for the next week. No deadlines, no early starts. It's so relaxing. I might go down for a swim in on of the heated pools later.


	8. Three days before Christmas

_Lieutenant Jane Shepard's journal entry, 12/22/2176_

Last night I decided to wear the dress Mika had given me. Harcourt had issued a drinking challenge, "to drink me under the table" were his exact words I believe. It's a bit pointless, as a biotic, my fast metabolism means alcohol just doesn't effect me like it does others. Harcourt seems to feel like this should be a competition, to see if he can outlast me. In any case, he wanted all of us to meet at the bar for drinks.

So I put on the dress, and glanced at myself in the mirror, only to see Jane the Marine staring back, looking ridiculous in a dress. I applied some makeup, untied my bun, and fluffed around with my hair until it looked somewhat like I had seen Cooper wear. Finally I felt like a woman. I slipped on my sole pair of heels, and headed out to the bar.

When I got there, I saw that Harcourt and Cooper had already grabbed a booth and had drinks. I made my way over to them.

When Harcourt noticed me, he cried, "Holy crap, LT! I knew you were a woman but by god, where have you been hiding those curves?"

Thankfully the dim lighting hid my flushing cheeks. "Pick your jaw up off the floor, gunny," I replied with a slight drawl. Cooper laughed and pulled me down to sit beside her.

"Tol' ye ye'd look gud, LT." She commented quietly.

"I feel _weird_." I murmured back.

"Ye jus' need a few drinks t' calm ye nerves," she stated loudly, raising her hand and hailing down one of the staff. "More martinis fer us ladies, please!"

It wasn't long before Saeed and Chang also arrived, looking much better than they normally do in their fatigues. We sat for a good hour, chatting and carrying on while we drank. Harcourt made good on his challenge, always ordering another drink for himself whenever I did, and finishing them just as quick. By the time Cooper was trying to convince me to get up and dance, Harcourt was well on his way to being black-out drunk.

Being the terrible dancer that I am, I hung back at the booth as the others went over to the dance floor, despite all of Cooper's cajoling and arm-pulling. When I told her I can't dance, she shouted, "Bullshit, LT! Ev'ryone cin dance! Jus' follow mah lead an' I'll teach ye." But I laughed, shook my head, and let her go without me.

That was when a guy dropped down into the seat opposite me. He had blonde hair and bright green eyes with a mischievous glint. With a smile that flashed perfect teeth he asked me, "Hey LT, wanna evac this bar and go see my hangar?"

I stared at him for a moment, unsure how to answer. Then I scowled and said, "If gunny Harcourt put you up to this, I'll-"

The man was innocently staring at me, still grinning. When I asked him how he knew I was a lieutenant, he lifted his beer in salute and said, "Hey, you may be gorgeous, but I know a marine when I see one." When I remained unconvinced, he told me he overheard my squad-mate shouting it earlier. Harcourt. I eyed the man for a minute, assessing the situation. Either Harcourt was setting me up to be the butt of his joke, or this man was genuinely interested in me. I glanced over at the dance floor, trying to get Cooper's attention, but she was busy dancing.

"No offence to your girl out there, but you're the best damn thing I've seen here all night."

"My girl?" I echoed, then realised what he meant. "No, we're not-"

He was grinning again. He leaned over and said, "The name's Razor, by the way."

"That's the name your parents gave you?" I replied, attempting humour. It was obviously a nickname.

"Guess you'll have to find out." He was grinning, again. I wondered if his face ever got sore from smiling too much.

"Right," I drawled. "I'm Shepard."

A waiter came over with more drinks. It seemed Razor was intending to stick around.

"So, where's your unit stationed?" Razor asked when the waiter was gone.

I touched my bottle to his, and took a drink. "Shanxi," I told him. "What about you. Marines?"

"Nah, fighter pilot for the SSV Hawking. There is nothing like flying an F-61 Trident out into deep-space. Those babies are a dream to handle."

"Yeah? You sure you're not just afraid of getting your hands dirty?"

"I see my fair share of fighting. Those damn batarians in the Terminus are constantly testing our borders."

"Mm," I agreed.

We talked for a while, watching the others out on the dance floor and entertaining ourselves with stories of our time in the Alliance. After about an hour, I asked, "So why Razor? I would have thought with that head of hair you'd get something more feminine."

"Never gave them the chance. In combat training I could make the sharpest manoeuvres. Your turn: why become a marine?"

I shrugged. "Seemed right. Had nothing else to look forward to. Besides, the Alliance welcomes biotics with open arms."

"You're a biotic, huh? Y'know, I've heard some... interesting things about biotic abilities."

I rolled my eyes. "No, I can't read your mind, nor am I going to open a portal to hell."

"That's not what I had in mind." He leaned over to whisper, "I hear that they are just as good in bed as an asari."

I cocked an eyebrow, hoping he couldn't see my flushed cheeks in the dim lighting. "I'm not too sure about that, but if you want, we could find out."

"I'm glad you feel that way. The hotel stuffed my booking around, and gave me a free upgrade to a room with a hot tub. But hot tubs are boring when you're on your own."

Feeling bold, I finished off my drink and stood up. "Well, I guess I'd better keep you company then," I remarked.

"You read my mind."

We returned to his room, which did indeed have a hot tub. After considering jumping in with my underwear still on, I nixed the idea and hopped in naked, while Razor was getting us more drinks. When he walked in he stood straight and whipped off a salute.

"Requesting permission to enter friendly lines."

In spite of myself I laughed at him. He passed over a beer, stripped down to his boxer shorts, and jumped in. The rest of the night, well, we ended up kissing not long after that. You can guess what happened next.

I'm now waiting for room service to get here, while Razor takes a shower. Though if he takes too much longer, I might have to get in there with him.


	9. Two days before Christmas

_Lieutenant Jane Shepard's journal entry, 12/23/2176_

I forgot to mention, Razor's name is Marcus Landon. I snuck a peek at his dog tags while he was sleeping. He and I spent the entire night together, as well as a good part of the day. But then I had to go visit Trish and her family, to find out the plans for Christmas Eve. She lives on the opposite side of the colony, as her partner's job involves working within the different sectors.

I took rapid transport there, and spent most of the afternoon at Trish's. When I got back to the hotel, Razor was waiting casually by the bar, which opened up onto the foyer of the hotel. I smiled and walked over, and he bought me dinner. Things went smoothly from there, and we ended up back in my room not long after that.

Razor's sleeping at the moment, but I'm not the least bit tired. I haven't adjusted to the time difference here, even though there are adjustable blackout windows in each room of the hotel which can be set to dim at different times. Or maybe it's my biotics; none of my squad seems to have issues with sleeping.

I can hear Razor stirring. Maybe he can help me get to sleep.


	10. The Night before Christmas

_Lieutenant Jane Shepard's journal entry, 12/24/2176_

The unthinkable has happened to Elysium. I've got some time while I'm waiting for Saeed so I'll fill in what I can. Razor spent the night with me again, to my surprise. I thought he was only interested in a one night stand. Anyway this morning I woke up to the sounds of screaming outside my door. I shook Razor awake, and then quickly got up and dressed. When I opened the door, I saw more than a few humans- and a few aliens- panicking in the hallways. I grabbed the first person (who happened to be a salarian) to run past me, and demanded to know what was happening.  
"W-we're under attack!" He screeched at me, his eyes wider than I had ever seen on a salarian.  
"Who, the hotel?"  
"Th-the-no! Elysium! Ships, the size of moons! They came out of nowhere!"  
He wasn't making any sense. I gripped both his shoulders and shook him gently to get his attention. "Listen, I'm an Alliance marine." I fished out my dog tags and waved them in his face. "I can help, but I need you to calm down."  
"C-calm down?! My first trip outside the clan borders and we're being attacked! And a human wants me to calm down?!" His voice rose so high I thought it might burst my eardrums.  
Then an explosion violently shook the hotel. Smoke and dust spat down from above us; the hotel was not built to withstand being attacked. My salarian informant was cowering on the ground, too afraid to move.  
"What's your name?" I asked him as I helped him back to his feet.  
"I-Inoste Jezek," he replied quietly, though I barely heard above the screams and panicked shouting in the hallway. I pulled him into my room and shut the door on the noise. Razor was by the holovid screen, scanning channels for information on the attack. Some of the ceiling had collapsed, blocking off the kitchenette.  
"Found anything out?" I asked Razor.  
"Not much, most of the civilian communications are down. From what ships I've been able to spot it looks to be pirates, possibly Terminus."  
Pirates from the Terminus Systems could mean only one thing. Batarians. My blood ran cold as the memory of the attack on Mindoir flashed through my mind. I couldn't let that happen, not again.  
Razor was still talking. "Connect your omnitool to emergency channel delta. All Alliance personnel have been ordered back to the garrison ASAP. Shore leave is canceled."  
"I suspected as much," I responded, dialling my omnitool in to the right channel. "But we can't just leave these people undefended."  
A heavy banging on the door made the salarian jump. I opened the door, letting in gunny Cooper, corporal Saeed, and gunny Harcourt. "Where's Chang?" I asked.  
"He went shoppin' early t' beat tha crowds, Shep. He contacted me t' say he'd meet us up at tha garrison."  
"Okay. Anyone heard from the other squads in the building?"  
"We've all been ordered back, LT," Saeed informed me. "The pirates hit the colony defences first, to prevent us from fighting back. The colony will soon be overwhelmed if the garrison can't get those defences back up."  
"We can't just leave this hotel undefended," I repeated, determined. "There's over a thousand guests here. Saeed s, get onto delta channel and call back as many squads are you can to defend the hotel. Harcourt, go with Razor back to the garrison and get us some supplies. Cooper and I will go down to ground floor and try to contain the situation. Any questions?"  
Despite the age difference between Saeed, Harcourt and I, they did exactly as I asked them. The only question voiced was one from Razor as we left the room.  
"Up until now, this was nice. Gonna miss me?" He asked me.  
I smirked and drawled in reply, "Only if you get yourself killed. Don't go and get shot down."  
"If I do, it'll only be because I was distracted by the memory of last night." This he whispered in my ear, leaving me standing in the doorway with my face bright red as he and Harcourt headed out.  
Up until this point Inoste Jezek the salarian had been almost forgotten about. Now I told him to stay close behind us as we headed for the still working elevators. Panicked guests were all over the place, screaming and shouting and blocking up the hallways and emergency stairwell. We pushed through; I added a little jolt of biotics anytime someone refused to move out of the way. It worked quite well, we were on the elevator and descending to ground floor in no time. There the others split off from Cooper, Jezek and I.

Saeed's back. My turn to keep watch.


	11. The Night before Christmas - part two

_Lieutenant Jane Shepard's second journal entry, 12/24/2176_

Cooper came and swapped with me, so I could take a break to rest. Except I can't. So I'll keep relaying what's happened instead.   
Once we got to ground floor the three of us went straight to the front desk and demanded to see the manager. When he came out of his office, looking rather frantic, I flashed my dog tags and said, "My name's Lieutenant Shepard, I've been tasked with keeping this hotel safe." It was a lie, sure. But it was the only thing I could think of to say. "I need to know what the most defensible location within the hotel is."  
"Defensible? I, I don't know, maybe the function rooms? This hotel isn't some Alliance building, it wasn't built to withstand raiders!"   
"I know, but we've got to get all these guests somewhere safe." I told him. "I was on Mindoir when batarians attacked, I know what they do to the survivors. So get your staff to gather all the guests and other employees in the function rooms, and send all of your security staff here, got it?"  
I tried to affect an authoritarian look as I spoke, hoping it would get the manager to listen. He walked back into his office, but it must have worked because next thing I heard was an announcement echoing through the PA system, warning of an emergency and requesting all guests and staff to calmly make their way towards the ground floor function centre. Not long after people began flooding into the foyer on their way to the function rooms. Other security staff gathered near us, thirty all told. The manager pointed out his security chief to me after returning from his office.   
"What's going on?" The security chief asked us.  
"Elysium is under attack by Terminus pirates. We need to keep everyone in the hotel protected. The pirates from the Terminus system are ruthless, they'll kill or enslave everyone given half the chance."  
The chief had been studying me as I spoke. After staring at my face for a moment, he asked, "So what's your plan, marine? There's over a thousand guests here alone, not including staff. You expect them to stay holed up in the function centre forever?"  
"No," I replied, thinking quickly. "Just until the Alliance gets reinforcements to us. We can fortify the function rooms, so they are better protected. Have your people split into groups and set up defences around the rooms. Close down any blast doors. We'll need some of your team to sweep the floors for people and make sure everyone's out. I've got my team calling back other squads, hopefully we'll be able to evacuate the guests soon."  
The security chief organised his team as I requested, sending a dozen off to sweep the floors for guests. By this time Saeed had returned, indicating that he was unsuccessful with a shake of his head. Frustrated, I sent him off with the security team sweeping the floors. Then I had the security chief pull up blueprints of the ground floor on his omnitool. I studied them for long minutes, committing each detail to memory. We were situated in the southern half of the building. The function rooms were located in the centre of the ground floor, ten rooms all told with various capacities equaling 1200. It would be a squeeze, but with a current guest population of 1058 we could manage. I had the hotel manager call over some of his staff, and when they arrived partnered them up with the security team groups.   
I assigned each group to one of the function rooms, telling them to make sure their designated room was filled and all guests were accounted for. The hotel had their own communications channel, I keyed the channel into my omnitool so that I could stay in touch with the security team, telling Cooper and Saeed (over closed communications) to do the same.  
Inoste Jezek was hovering on the fringes of my vision as I watched the amount of people making their ways to the function centre slow to a trickle. I told him to join the other guests in the function rooms; after some hesitation he complied.

I'm getting radio chatter from my squad. I don't know when I'll next have time to update this.


	12. Christmas Day

_Lieutenant Jane Shepard's journal entry, 12/25/2176_

Everything's FUBAR. Harcourt is dead. Chang is still in critical condition. I'm stuck in hospital with a laceration to my face and two broken ribs. I was fortunate they didn't puncture my lung. Doc says I need a couple days of bed rest which gives me plenty of time to recount the rest of what happened.  
The attack on Elysium was a lot more serious than we first thought. After bolstering the hotel's defences (Saeed managed to repurpose the kinetic barriers that were dividing some of the function rooms into almost impenetrable shielding. We then used them to barricade the doors) we received an emergency call from the garrison. The raiders were hitting us hard; five squads had already been taken out. The raiders were utilising gunships, and without the GUARDIAN defence system working, they had superior firepower. We couldn't remain at the hotel any longer.  
We gave the security chief instructions for the defences, and told them under no circumstances should they leave the hotel, before heading out for the garrison.  
The garrison was three klicks to the north of the hotel. As the three of us cautiously made our way through the empty city streets, there was only silence. The air was filled with tension; every house was locked up, the only people on the streets were us. I set a moderate pace, and it wasn't too long before we made it to the garrison.  
The garrison was a hive of activity. We reported directly to the CO, a Major Ryan Wilshaw. He informed us of the situation; the spaceport on the outskirts of the north east quarter had been overrun, and the GARDIAN turrets were down from overuse. Enemy ground forces had landed beyond the north east perimeter of the colony and were encroaching on the city. We were instructed to gear up with combat hard suits and weapons at the supply office.   
The supply office had several hard suits from Aldrin labs; I selected the lightest one I could find and put it on. Next I selected an assault rifle, a pistol, and various other supplies. Once my squad and I (by then Harcourt and Chang had rejoined us) were kitted up, we went back to Major Wilshaw for our assignment. He informed us that he had men erecting barricades around the out boundary of the colony, but with the spaceport overrun with raiders they were unable to contain that area. So we had orders to take it back, along with another squad. Once the spaceport was ours we could get ships in the air and rain havoc on the enemy, according to Major Wilshaw.   
The other significant thing about the spaceport was the GARDIAN turret stationed there. There were a few situated around the city which had been whittling down the enemies ships in orbit over Elysium until they ran out of power. I'm not read up on how the lasers work but I know they are less efficient the more they are used in a battle. The turret at the spaceport however was fresh. The raiders had disabled it when they took over the spaceport, which had been their first ground attack. It was time for us to take it back.  
The second squad assigned to me consisted of three guys, Corporal Bravo, Corporal Healy, Private Siddle, and a woman, Second Lieutenant Estes. I'd seen them around the hotel earlier in the week; they had to be the other competition winners. Wilshaw made it clear to the other lieutenant that I was in charge.   
It was after 1300 before we were on our way to the spaceport. It was 3 klicks from the garrison, so it took us half an hour to get there; Major Wilshaw wanted us on foot to clear out any small pockets of raiders we might come across. There were a few, though nothing we couldn't easily handle. The real task was getting inside the spaceport. According to the blueprints Major Wilshaw had sent to my omnitool, the spaceport consisted of three different sections, the docking station to the west, waiting zones to the north and south connecting to the docking station, and departure and arrival terminals to the east. When we got within view of the front entrances we could see they were guarded by clusters of heavily armed mercenaries, all within view of each other.   
I pored over the blueprints, searching for another entrance into the spaceport. We were currently on the south-east side; to the north was a small hatch barely larger than one man across. It had an inside opening mechanism in case of emergencies; I asked Saeed if he'd be able to get it open, and he said he could. So we circled the perimeter of the spaceport until we came to the north side, and then I calculated our next move. Two mercs were posted on the hatch. I had Corporal Estes, a class A sniper, take out the guards. Then we were running to the hatch, watching for reinforcements as Saeed hacked his way in.  
Once we were inside we split up, following a plan we had agreed upon before arriving at the spaceport. We had emerged in the offices; Estes took Cooper, Saeed, Healy and Siddle with her to retake the communications centre. Bravo, Harcourt, Chang and I moved out in search of hostages. Thermal scanners on our radars told us the largest concentration of heat signatures were located in the cafeteria hall. The cafeteria was located on the upper floor of the spaceport. Using the back hallways and emergency stairwells, we quietly made our way there.   
Before we entered the southern wing, Bravo found a holoterminal which he used to override and gain control of the security cameras within the cafeteria hall. A platoon of mercs were spread throughout the hall, keeping watch on the hundred or so captives and guarding entrances. We would have to plan very carefully if we were to keep from being overwhelmed.   
Estes reported in once her team had taken out the raiders in the communications centre. Then Saeed hacked into the system. I devised a strategy for entering the cafeteria. Estes and her squad left Saeed within the communications centre (I had him put the communications centre on lock down after they left), while we took up position either side of the entrance to the hall and Estes' team followed suit with the other entrance. Then I instructed Saeed to set off an alarm in the northern wing on my mark to draw the hostiles out.  
I signalled Saeed. The alarm sounded. I kept myself hard up against the wall, waiting for the first of the mercs to storm through the door. Three came to investigate the alarm. I gave them a few moments to clear the doorway, then murmured over the comm, "Go."  
I charged up my biotics then used it to lift one of the mercs into the air. Bravo and Harcourt came out of their cover, shooting at the mercs. Similar sounds from the other entrance told me they'd engaged the enemy as well. The thermal scanner on my radar indicated more were on their way. Taking a deep breath, I charged my biotics once more, then as soon as the mercs were close enough to the door, I released the charge in a wave, throwing the closest merc into the others. I drew my assault rifle, and the four of us moved through the entrance, picking our targets and shooting carefully so as not to hit any of the hostages.   
The mercs were good, but they weren't a match trained marines. It wasn't long before the firefight was over, without any injury on our part. Saeed used his system wide access to put the food hall on lockdown. I had Chang and Siddle collect up the hostiles' weapons while the rest of my squad released the captives. I reported our successful infiltration to major Wilshaw back at the garrison. He reminded me that we needed to eliminate all hostiles from the spaceport and get the GARDIAN turrets back online.  
I watched the men and women who had been hostages. Most were employees; the spaceport had been almost empty when the raiders docked. Thinking quickly, I addressed them in a loud voice.  
"How many of you have handled a weapon before?"  
A number of hands hesitantly shot up, over half of the crowd. I looked over at the pile of weapons, assessing the plan developing in my head. It was risky. A lot of civilians could get hurt. But there weren't enough of us to secure the entire spaceport. I needed backup, and this was all I was going to get.  
I had those with weapons experience arm themselves; I directed Estes to take charge of everyone else and put them to work setting up defences in the food hall and gathering any supplies we could use. I broke the armed civilians up into five groups, each lead by a member of my squad. Siddle remained under Estes' command.   
It wasn't long before we had company. The rest of the mercenaries were outside the hall, attempting to get inside. I had my newly bolstered squad take up defensive positions throughout the hall, checked Saeed's status, then had him open the south west entrance.   
There wasn't much to the fight. Another two platoons of mercenaries came charging through, almost all of the estimated hostiles according to Wilshaw's earlier reports. After we had taken them out, I sent out three groups to flush out any remaining hostiles.  
Over the next few hours we cleared out the spaceport and the GARDIAN turret station. Then I set Saeed to work restoring the turret, while Cooper and I took turns keeping watch.   
A report came in over the comm just before midnight; the enemy had set off and IED on a section of the north east emergency barricade, killing the squad stationed there and compromising the barricade.   
I remember thinking to myself, "I won't let another Mindoir happen, not again." The north east barricade wasn't far from the spaceport. I made sure Saeed and Cooper could handle things at the turret station, collected Chang, Harcourt, Bravo and the civilians under his command from the spaceport, and headed out for the breach.  
As we got near it was clear the enemy had overrun the entire area. I broke the civilians down into even smaller groups led by each of my squad, and sent them out to surround the area. On my mark we moved in, like a vice squeezing closed on the enemy, and began to push them back through the breach.  
The mercs that were still alive broke and ran when we got to the barricade. The damage was bad; the blast had taken out two metres our the barricade, with another metre each side only standing half height.   
I set my squad to shifting what debris they could to bolster the remaining walls. I sent Bravo and the civilians down the barricade to check for any other IEDs that might compromise the barricade's integrity.  
The enemy was relentless; minutes after we had cleared out the area they returned, attempting to reclaim the breach. Chang and Harcourt took up position on the right side of the breach; I settled in on the left, preparing myself for a drawn out fight.  
Each wave of hostiles that attempted to take the breach became larger and larger. First it was three, testing the strength of force at the breach. Then five, eight, twelve, twenty. Each time they would charge up to the barricade then beat a hasty retreat. The tactics were obvious; they were trying to draw us out into the open territory beyond the barricade. But my squad was well trained, they remained steadfast at their posts. After a couple hours of their testing, the enemy stopped. I knew what came next; an all out charge. Minutes ticked by, yet nothing happened. It seemed the enemy was smarter than I had given them credit for.  
My thermal scanner was indicating heat signatures approaching the barricade on the other side of my position. There was more though; my scanner also picked up an IED. I ordered Chang to retrieve it while we lay down cover fire, before the mercs had a chance to arm it. Charging my biotics I threw one merc into the other two, knocking them all away from the IED. That was Chang's signatory go. He raced out as Harcourt and I fired at anything else that moved beyond the barricade.   
I saw Chang go down from the corner of my eye as he brought the IED back towards us. The overheating alarm went off on my rifle; swearing at myself I slid back down into cover to let the thermal chamber cool.   
"Cover me!" Harcourt cried over the comm.   
"What?" I shouted back, though I had heard perfectly. "Harcourt wait! Stand down!" But it was too late. Harcourt leaped from his position. I jumped up to provide cover, my weapon ready again.  
Harcourt reached Chang within seconds as I lay down a round of suppressive fire. He hauled him back through the breach, but as he was letting Chang down a grenade rolled through the gap.   
"Harcourt look out!" I shouted.  
That idiot. It felt like time slowed down. Harcourt turned around, grabbed up the grenade, and lobbed it back through the gap. Just after it left his hand, it exploded, setting off the IED with it. Harcourt was thrown to the ground; the blast fractured the damaged wall further, sending pieces everywhere. Debris smashed into me, knocking me down and compromising my hard suit in the process.   
"Harcourt!" I shouted desperately, but there was no response. Keeping an eye on the breach in the barricade, I ran over to his body, but I could see by the damage done to his hard suit that there was nothing I could do. He was dead.  
I checked on Chang. He was breathing, just barely. I used the last of our medigel to stop what bleeding I could see. I could hear hostiles approaching, shouting orders in their native tongue. I pulled Chang over next to the other wounded, and began charging my biotics with as much power as I could muster. When I couldn't stand the growing power fizzing through my veins any longer, I used it to create a biotic barrier covering the breach in the barricade.   
The charge was so powerful it took every bit of my concentration to stop it from falling apart. I closed my eyes; if I looked out on the approaching batarians now I'd lose it. I paced my breathing just as I'd learned when I was a teen. The raiders opened fire against my barrier; each bullet felt like a hammer blow.   
I don't know how long I held that barrier for. My arms had begun to shake, and my skin was dripping with sweat from the effort it took to keep the barrier in place. On the horizon the first glimmer of sunrise began to shine. Just when I thought I couldn't hold it any longer, I heard a voice ring out over the comm.  
" _Hey LT! I heard you could use some help!_ "  
It was like music to my ears. For a moment I thought I was hallucinating. "Razor! Is that you?" I cried, trying desperately to not lose control of my barrier.  
" _You know it babe. Got backup coming in hot. Hold tight!_ "  
Two Alliance Mantis gunships dropped down into view from above and began firing at the enemy. A fresh burst of adrenaline gave me the strength I needed to push the raiders back, exploding my biotic barrier in a wave that knocked the closest ones to the ground. Three drop shuttles came in low to drop off their cargo, a whole platoon of marines. They quickly surrounded the raiders from behind; though a few resisted, most of the raiders were sensible enough to drop their weapons and surrender. Reports were filtering in over the comm of similar situations occurring throughout the colony.  
I couldn't believe it. I just stood there with the thousand yard stare, unable to think. A dark skinned man in a navy uniform was approaching me, with more marines at his back. He was saying something to me, but I didn't hear it. I roused myself and looked over his uniform. His chevrons told me he was a commander; the name on his uniform said "Anderson". I lifted my shaky hand to attempt a salute.  
"At ease, Lieutenant." The commander told me. I looked over his features more. His face was rounded, weathered prematurely from a lifetime in the military, yet his dark brown eyes were determined. There was a fresh cut on his thin upper lip, hastily attended to with medigel. It would leave a scar.  
His marines flowed past us, following predetermined orders while the commander debriefed me. I barely noticed, but they quickly took charge of the wounded, getting them out and into the shuttles for transport to the hospital.   
"Give me a sit-rep, Lieutenant." Anderson commanded. The authority in his voice brought me back to the situation at hand.  
"Sir! Four wounded, two dead. GUARDIAN turret secure and operable. North-east quarter barricades are intact, except for this breach. Status of other squads unknown." I hammered off the details as I could remember, starting to feel a little light headed.   
"Alright Lieutenant, stand down. You need medical attention."  
It gets a bit blurry here, as the adrenaline that was pumping through my system wore off. I remember a medic scanning me with his omnitool and telling me I had two broken ribs. Apparently the only reason I hadn't felt the pain before now was the adrenaline pumping through my system. Now that it was wearing off, every breath became excruciating to take. The medic injected me with something for the pain, before cleaning the blood from my face- apparently, a gash across my face was reopening every time I spoke, and bleeding all over my face. Then he sealed the gash with medigel to keep it from opening again.   
Commander Anderson had me on the next shuttle to the hospital, despite my delusional claims that I was fine. There I was processed through emergency (they injected a high-grade variation of medigel around the breaks in my ribs to hold them in place while they mend), and taken to a wing of the hospital filled with other injured marines and navies. I saw Saeed as I was wheeled down the wing, before the nurse stationed my bed at the end. The nurse gave me the rundown of the various buttons in case I needed any help, and left me be. Then I slept, as exhaustion swamped over me.

And that's where I am now. I woke up a little while ago, after sleeping for almost a day. The staff know I'm a biotic; they brought me over a huge meal specifically designed for a biotic's metabolism. I saw so hungry I devoured it all in minutes. When I asked them about my squad, they told me Chang was out of surgery, but in critical condition. Cooper had been discharged with a broken arm, and Saeed was recovering from being shot in the leg.   
I have company; Cooper has come to visit.


	13. The Day after Christmas

_Lieutenant Jane Shepard's journal entry, 12/26/2176_

Well, Cooper informed me of some interesting scuttlebutt. Like the reason everyone seems really hushed around me; apparently I'm a hero. Everyone seems to think that without me the spaceport would have fallen. I tried to tell her that I just did what any marine would do, but Cooper grinned and said, "Not wit'out yer magic powas they wouldn'."  
According to her, the civilians I rallied to help defend the spaceport were also instrumental to our success; they took down a group of raiders who tried to ambush the turret. Word is that they won because of me. But I still don't think I did anything special.  
I've had some other visitors as well, Mika came as soon as she could, and only left my side when Razor stopped in. He looked ridiculous walking in with flowers. He made some crack about me trying to steal his glory, to which I told him if he'd become a marine instead of a pilot then maybe he would get his chance.  
Trish and her family visited too. She said even though it was a day late, there was still something to celebrate, and dragged Mika and I out to the cafeteria to eat. Apparently her husband and daughter had set up all their Christmas gear there. She had everything we used to get on Arcturus when I was a teen. Don't tell anyone, but I almost cried.


	14. Three Days After Christmas

_Lieutenant Jane Shepard's journal entry, 12/28/2176_

I was discharged today. Before I left, an Admiral Hackett came to visit me. He's the commanding officer of the Alliance Navy's Fifth Fleet, the fleet that came to Elysium's aid. He informed me that there would be a commendation ceremony after the memorial tomorrow. I'm to be awarded the Star of Terra for my actions. I don't think I deserve any medals, I was only doing my job, and I lost a squadmate. When I told him this, he just said, "Listen, kid. The people of Elysium needed someone to glorify, and they picked you. You did a good job, so get out your dress blues, put on your best smile, and when we call on you, accept your award like a dutiful marine."  
I sheepishly replied, "Yes, sir." What else could I say after complaining to an admiral? I've met a rear admiral or two in my time as a marine but not someone like Admiral Hackett. He's one of the big guns.  
I'm now at Trish's place. Her apartment is situated to the south west of the colony, far enough away that it didn't see all that much fighting. Mika had my gear picked up from the hotel; even though I've been released, the doc still wants me to move around as little as possible while my ribs mend. Even with the support of the high-grade medigel, it will still take a few weeks for my bones to heal. And the nasty gash across my face is going to leave a scar; it stretches diagonally from my right eyebrow, across the bridge of my nose, and down my cheek. In some spots, the skin was sliced down to the bone. I still don't remember how the debris from that explosion managed to crush my helmet so badly that it caused the gash. I'll probably never know.


	15. Epilogue

_Lieutenant Jane Shepard's journal entry, 12/29/2176_

The memorial for the fallen was today. 37 people all told were killed, and another 21 injured. It was a solemn affair, attended by every available serviceman within the system. Admiral Hackett, as the CO of the Fifth Fleet, headed up the memorial out on the icy parade grounds. Many citizens came to watch from the fence line, leaving candles and flowers to remember the fallen. After that they held the ceremony, still outside. There were commendations handed out, and confirmations of field promotions. And of course, my medal. My feet betrayed me, they walked me up to that podium and made me stand there as the admiral pinned that medal to my chest. Admiral Hackett and the others saluted me, and my arm saluted back, but for me it was just reflexes.  
On my way out from the ceremony, I was stopped by Commander Anderson. He pulled me to the side of parade grounds to chat. We exchanged pleasantries, and he asked how my wounds were healing. I told him I was fine.  
Then, in a serious tone, he asked me, "Lieutenant, what do you know about Interplanetary Combatives Training?"  
I'd heard of ICT before, special training provided to officers who showed expertise in their branch of operations. It's the kind of training you only get to complete if you've qualified for it, and merely attending the academy earns you prestige amongst your peers. My heart began to beat faster. "Sir, it's the System's Alliance premier school for leadership and combat expertise," I told him, keeping my voice level. The line was directly from an ad I'd seen a while back that had stuck with me ever since.  
"Yes, the most gruelling, agonising mix of sleep deprivation torture and starvation the Alliance could come up with. I would know."  
The comment made my gaze cross to his bars. I hadn't noticed before but there it was- the N7 insignia, the most coveted designation of them all, pinned to his dress blues. I was talking with a legend. It took a lot of effort not to whip off a salute then and there.  
"Lieutenant Jane Shepard, on behalf of the System's Alliance I would like to cordially extend an invitation to you to attend the Interplanetary Combatives Academy at Vila Militar, Rio de Janeiro."  
He passed me a datapad that had been tucked under his arm. I took it with shaky hands. Receiving the Star of Terra was nothing compared to this. I never thought I deserved the award, but this... this I have wanted since I first heard the words Interplanetary Combatives Training.

I can't believe I'm going to the villa!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it folks! For now at least. I hope you've enjoyed this little preview of what I've been working on! Stay tuned to my tumblr (http://mehmi.tumblr.com/) for the full series. Updates start in the next few weeks!


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